Barcelona President Joan Laporta Remains Calm Amid Refereeing Scandal Charges

Barcelona president Joan Laporta has expressed his calmness despite being personally charged with suspected bribery in relation to the ongoing refereeing scandal that has engulfed the Catalan club. Laporta, 61, was recently included in the investigation into payments totaling over €7 million ($7.3 million) made to companies connected to former vice president of the refereeing committee, José María Enríquez Negreira, between 2001 and 2018.

Laporta, in an interview with Catalunya Radio, revealed that he had been warned by his defense team about the possibility of such charges due to the judge’s history. However, Laporta firmly believes that no crime of bribery has been committed and remains confident that the accusations against him will not prosper. As a lawyer himself, he asserts that there is no truth to the allegations and expressed his calmness regarding the situation.

The judge’s criteria, according to Laporta, contradicts the prosecution’s stance on the case. While the prosecution’s argument revolves around sporting corruption and false administration, there is no mention of bribery. Laporta firmly believes that the matter will conclude with Barcelona being absolved of any wrongdoing.

Initially, prosecutors raised a complaint about the payments in March. Subsequently, the investigating judge, Joaquín Aguirre López, added bribery to the list of charges in September. Initially, Barça as a club, along with ex-presidents Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu, former executives Oscar Grau and Albert Soler, and Negreira and his son were named as defendants, excluding Laporta. However, López recently asserted that Laporta, alongside his board of directors during the relevant period, should also face the same charges because the latter years of his first term as president, from 2003 to 2010, should not be time-barred.

Laporta maintains that the case against him is motivated by a deep-rooted bias against Barcelona, primarily stemming from societal favoritism towards their Clásico rivals, Real Madrid. He suggests that this bias is widespread in various influential circles, including certain media outlets, political spheres, and sections of the sporting community. Laporta believes that this bias was already present during his first tenure as president and is resurfacing now that Barcelona is excelling in various aspects such as sporting achievements, financial stability, and institutional growth. He claims that the fear of Barcelona’s success has led to the exploitation of the Negreira case to tarnish the club’s reputation, something that he finds unacceptable.

The payments made by Barcelona to Negreira’s companies occurred over a span of 17 years while he served as the vice president of the refereeing committee. Negreira had previously been a referee in the Spanish top flight. Laporta has repeatedly stated that these payments were for “technical reports about referees” and vehemently denied any involvement in buying referees or attempting to influence their decisions.

In contrast, prosecutors have accused Rosell and Bartomeu of having an agreement with Negreira, wherein he would take actions to favor Barcelona in the decision-making process of referees during the club’s matches, thereby influencing the outcomes of competitions. Rosell served as the president of Barcelona from 2010 to 2014 before being succeeded by Bartomeu. After a six-year tenure, Bartomeu resigned in 2020, and Laporta was elected as his replacement in 2021.

Originally, Barcelona faced charges relating to alleged corruption in sport, corruption in business, false administration, and falsification of commercial documents in March. The charges of bribery were added later, as the judge determined that Negreira, as the vice president of the refereeing committee, held a position equivalent to a civil servant, thereby enabling him to exercise public functions.

The ongoing scandal continues to cast a shadow over Barcelona as the legal proceedings unfold. As the club’s president, Laporta remains steadfast in his defense against the charges and believes that Barcelona will ultimately be vindicated.